Human Connection in AI Era: A Mixed-Method Study in Vietnamese Higher Education Contexts

Abstract

This quantitative-qualitative study used a combination of a Likert-scale-question survey of 302 students and in-depth interviews with 17 in order to investigate how students majoring in English Studies (ES) view the changing role of human interactions in AI-integrated classroom. The findings showed despite that fact that ES students really appreciate AI’s efficiency and resources, they highly evaluated the existence of human connection. Statistic analysis indicated that students’ desire for human support of emotion and motivation was directly related to their concerns for the AI’s ethical deficiency and its solutions to complicated learning issues. Interviews obviously supported this, emphasizing the fact that students consider their human educators important factors of emotion encouragement, ethical guidance, and interactive-learning reassurance. Ultimately, this study provides life-based deposition for the viewpoint that human beings and AI can work effectively in the same learning environment of higher education. The most important outcome of this study is a set of practical implementation of acclimating curriculum, professional development, and educational policies to new learning environments with AI.